eager to learn more; " but how does that affect hypnotism ? "
" The obvious inference, my dear Keith, would seem that the hypnotist, by some telepathic disturbance set up in the mind of the subject, interposes his own will between the volitions and the nerve-centres, cutting the lines of communication, until every movement, however intricate, is, so far as the will of the subject is concerned, as much a reflex action as was that of breathing or digestion. And now, as the telegraphist who has cut a telegraph wire can affix to the severed end his own instrument and send what message he will to its destination, while the messages from the station at the other end can no longer pass through, the hypnotist gains entire control of the wires leading to the muscles, and can transmit to them what order he pleases and be obeyed! He has thus the complete mastery of the human machine, while the brain of the subject, thinking and willing as coherently as ever, finds its messages along the nerves intercepted and lost before they can be translated into motion. What else is somnambulism ? "
Armstrong looked at me defiantly, as if challenging contradiction, but I nodded my head in approval and let him go on.
"Another will, the dream will, is interposed between the sleeper's mind and his body, and he performs deeds that in his waking moments would be utterly beyond him. A somnambulist in his sleep can walk in safety across a plank spanning a yawning abyss which in the daytime he would be unable to contemplate without a shudder. And why ? Because his movements are beyond the control of the volitions, and, reel as the brain may, the steps remain firm and steady."
" So," I said, impressed and startled by this new phase of the subject, "you hold that it is not a matter of will opposed to will ? "
Armstrong made a gesture of impatience.
" I emphatically deny that the hypnotist conquers or overcomes the will of the subject. He simply sets it aside, and interposes his own volitions between it and the movements of the body it should control. While, as I have said, the brain goes on thinking and willing, it is as surely restrained from influencing the actions of the muscles as if the knife of the surgeon had severed the spinal cord immmediately below the medulla oblongata."
" Have you found during your investigations," I questioned again, " that the subject is easier to hypnotise after each successive operation ? "
" Decidedly! " he answered promptly. " Though perhaps it is largely a matter of temperament. Some will go under the influence easily at the first attempt; with others, it requires frequent and repeated efforts before the hypnotic state can be easily induced. In all, I believe, it becomes easier after each operation, until the hypnotist can put that particular subject off by merely willing it."
" And what are the limits of distance at which the force can act ? "
" As far as thought itself I There are no limits. When we discover the limit to which we can project our thoughts, we shall probably have found the limit at which will-force is effective. You can think as easily of objects five yards away as of the mountains in the moon, or the nebulous patches that astronomers tell us are star-clusters in the outermost limits of space! "
" Have you ever known, Armstrong," something suddenly prompted me to ask, " this power to have been used for a wrong purpose ? "
" I have never had personal experience of it," he answered, " but I have heard of cases where the hypnotist has made his subject commit crime against his will, though he was conscious of what he did."
He was looking at me curiously, his suspicions, perhaps, aroused by my intense interest.
•' It is a fascinating subject," I answered evasively.
" It is a fascinating subject," he responded. " Think of the boundless fields for research lying ready to the hand of science which she is blindly ignoring. When a biologist discovers some new microbe half the scientific world goes
" The obvious inference, my dear Keith, would seem that the hypnotist, by some telepathic disturbance set up in the mind of the subject, interposes his own will between the volitions and the nerve-centres, cutting the lines of communication, until every movement, however intricate, is, so far as the will of the subject is concerned, as much a reflex action as was that of breathing or digestion. And now, as the telegraphist who has cut a telegraph wire can affix to the severed end his own instrument and send what message he will to its destination, while the messages from the station at the other end can no longer pass through, the hypnotist gains entire control of the wires leading to the muscles, and can transmit to them what order he pleases and be obeyed! He has thus the complete mastery of the human machine, while the brain of the subject, thinking and willing as coherently as ever, finds its messages along the nerves intercepted and lost before they can be translated into motion. What else is somnambulism ? "
Armstrong looked at me defiantly, as if challenging contradiction, but I nodded my head in approval and let him go on.
"Another will, the dream will, is interposed between the sleeper's mind and his body, and he performs deeds that in his waking moments would be utterly beyond him. A somnambulist in his sleep can walk in safety across a plank spanning a yawning abyss which in the daytime he would be unable to contemplate without a shudder. And why ? Because his movements are beyond the control of the volitions, and, reel as the brain may, the steps remain firm and steady."
" So," I said, impressed and startled by this new phase of the subject, "you hold that it is not a matter of will opposed to will ? "
Armstrong made a gesture of impatience.
" I emphatically deny that the hypnotist conquers or overcomes the will of the subject. He simply sets it aside, and interposes his own volitions between it and the movements of the body it should control. While, as I have said, the brain goes on thinking and willing, it is as surely restrained from influencing the actions of the muscles as if the knife of the surgeon had severed the spinal cord immmediately below the medulla oblongata."
" Have you found during your investigations," I questioned again, " that the subject is easier to hypnotise after each successive operation ? "
" Decidedly! " he answered promptly. " Though perhaps it is largely a matter of temperament. Some will go under the influence easily at the first attempt; with others, it requires frequent and repeated efforts before the hypnotic state can be easily induced. In all, I believe, it becomes easier after each operation, until the hypnotist can put that particular subject off by merely willing it."
" And what are the limits of distance at which the force can act ? "
" As far as thought itself I There are no limits. When we discover the limit to which we can project our thoughts, we shall probably have found the limit at which will-force is effective. You can think as easily of objects five yards away as of the mountains in the moon, or the nebulous patches that astronomers tell us are star-clusters in the outermost limits of space! "
" Have you ever known, Armstrong," something suddenly prompted me to ask, " this power to have been used for a wrong purpose ? "
" I have never had personal experience of it," he answered, " but I have heard of cases where the hypnotist has made his subject commit crime against his will, though he was conscious of what he did."
He was looking at me curiously, his suspicions, perhaps, aroused by my intense interest.
•' It is a fascinating subject," I answered evasively.
" It is a fascinating subject," he responded. " Think of the boundless fields for research lying ready to the hand of science which she is blindly ignoring. When a biologist discovers some new microbe half the scientific world goes
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